Remembering Bob Bartley

It was in this atmosphere that Bartley took over the editorial page of the Wall Street Journal. It was the largest circulation newspaper in the United States and the only one in those days with national distribution. Anyone living anywhere in the country could generally get same-day delivery of the Journal, giving it enormous influence. Although its editorial page had always been conservative, it was a rather bland, unfocused sort of conservatism. Its main concerns were the budget deficit and labor unions.

Beginning in 1974, Bartley began opening his page to a broad range of intellectuals who developed what are now called supply-side economics and neoconservatism. He recruited a board of contributors, with respected intellectuals like Irving Kristol, Martin Feldstein and James Q. Wilson, who would write for the Journal once a month or more. Bartley also brought in aggressive young editorial writers like Jude Wanniski to serve on his staff, as well as publishing op-ed articles by then-unknown economists like Arthur Laffer, Paul Craig Roberts, Richard Rahn and Robert Mundell.

Journal editorials became must reading for every right-leaning policy analyst in Washington. This was not so much because they reflected a conservative viewpoint, which had always been the case, but because one actually got news and information from them that would never have seen the light of day otherwise. Bartley and his minions always thought of themselves as reporters first and editorialists second. This provided a sharpness and immediacy to Journal editorials that is still exceptional and continues under Bartley's successor, Paul Gigot.

It is hard to explain how important this was at the time. Today, anyone who is curious about what conservatives think can tune in to Rush Limbaugh or watch Fox News or read the web sites of the Cato Institute, Heritage Foundation, National Center for Policy Analysis and an almost infinite number of other sources of news and analysis from a conservative viewpoint. But in the 1970s, none of these existed. The Journal editorial page was a beacon light in the darkness.

Bartley changed the focus, tone and style of the Journal editorial page in ways that were quite profound--intellectually, politically and journalistically. It became the principal outlet for serious analysis of public policy from a conservative perspective, especially on economics and national security. It is inconceivable to me that Ronald Reagan could have been elected president in 1980 without the intellectual foundation that was established in the 1970s by the Wall Street Journal editorial page.

The world would be a very different place today if Bob Bartley had not been the person he was or done the things he did. There are very few people in history about whom that can be said.

Bruce Bartlett is a former senior fellow with the National Center for Policy Analysis of Dallas, Texas. Bartlett is a prolific author, having published over 900 articles in national publications, and prominent magazines and published four books, including Reaganomics: Supply-Side Economics in Action.

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